jmark

OK, so you probably won't believe this, but it's true - when we bought our house in Westchester (10 years ago), there were TONS of ratcoons (as my then 4 year old called them) in our backyard. It's a rocky hillside, with lots of "caves", some of them very large (really, you can shine a flashlight into them, and they're the size of of a small NYC apartment). Our predecessors here, a nice elderly couple, reportedly thought they were "cute", and fed them (much to the dismay of the neighbors). One night right after we moved in, we counted 32 - that's right, thirty-two - of the little bastards at once, on the rocks behind the house. Probably six families, each with their own "cave". The hillside smelled awful of ratcoon poop, and the filthy things were ridden with parasites. I HATED THEM. I mean, I don't hate much (other than D*ke University, a word my children are forbidden to speak), but I HATE raccoons. It has taken me 10 years to get rid of them. I tried trapping, had several "have-a-hearts". This required picking up the traps with beast inside (heavy), lugging the damn thing to my truck or car (disgusting), carrying them far away (waste of time and gas), and releasing them (risky, the little bastards are mean when released) (also I was spotted once doing it by some do-gooder who gave me a hard time). I eventually took to shooting the damn things. I bought a high-end PCP pellet rifle, and loaded a few of them up with pellets. They didn't die. Amazing, how tough these filthy critters are. Finally, I went back to the traps. But no, I'm not wasting my time and gas driving them up-county to release (only to be harassed by jerks), I took them into the garage, put the trap down on a large garbage bag, and put a single .22 hollow point into the head of each one. Instant death. Humane (if you care), and clean. Then I put the carcass in a garbage bag with a bunch of other garbage, and on the street. At this point, I seem to have only one family hanging on. I'm thinking of using my new crossbow to take these out. Nice practice, quick and clean. Cost - a broadhead and possibly an arrow per critter. I can live with that. I HATE RACCOONS.

Old truck restoration, a topic near and dear to my heart. Check out my latest purchase .... a 1979 F-150 Ranger, 72k original miles, NC truck, everything, literally everything, original and still working perfectly. One owner. The original wheels and hubcaps, and even LUG NUTS, were in the tool box. NO RUST. None. 302 purrs like a kitten. My son and I took 3 days to drive it up thru the Appalachians, on backroads, up to NY. His comment, "Wow, this place is just beautiful." Yes. It is. Nothing like the NC mountains and a good ole Ford truck!

I purchased a shotgun from Dick's a few years ago - it was incorrectly put together, the safety was broken, and things that should have been in the package were not. Of course, no help from the idiot sales clerks. Will never buy a gun (or bow) from a big box store again. Plus, as others have pointed out, Dick's has now firmly established itself as in the camp of the enemy. I won't set foot in a Dick's or F&S, ever again. Edit: we had one of those little Dick's points cards - my son (14 yo) attached it to an M-80 and blew it up. I think he filmed it. I raised that boy right!

I drive past this area on my way upstate every weekend... pretty much figured it's not far enough away from The Megalopolis. BTW, blackradio, not to hijack the thread, but I like the music - reminds of me of one of my favorite bands, Russian Circles. Nice stuff.

Nice! Is that a zebra in the background?

Fourth one - "Hey, wait a minute! Guys, that's a damn trail cam there! We're outa here!"

Wow, that is one awesome beast. I didn't even know there were elk in PA.

I would just like to point out that vegans are at the same place on the food chain as deer. And a lot dumber and easier to catch.

Man, this thread sure did go south fast. Never met a crowd so into poop. I'm gettin' a little worried...

Hey a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do.

Yeah. I think moog was right, it was raccoon. I should have known not to eat the damn thing, but they're so good with sweet-n-sour sauce.

Subject kind of explains. Thoughts?

Question from a relative newby at this - how long is it ok to leave the deer after killing it before butchering? I realize it must depend somewhat on temperatures. But let's say it's October, and it's in the 50's, and you take a doe with a bow deep in the woods, and will need help getting it out. How much time do you really have?

Yeah. Problem is, you could end up with a DEC officer who is a Notorious RBG type. They haven't even read the Constitution and don't care what it says. (Sorry for the politics....couldn't resist.)

My neighbor has a poodle that's bigger than my retriever.

Greenville is a nice little town. Be sure to have dinner at the Rod-n-Reel Cafe. Great place.

Heck, there's all kinds of things people don't understand. My family owned a speed shop and drag and roundy-round racecars (hey, what's racecar spelled backward!?). I sold quite a few radial steering wheels back in the day. Lots of people came back to tell me how much better they worked that the OEM product.

The only thing we recycled in the South back in those days was beer. Nowadays I think I'd pack it up and send it to California. It's the right thing to do.

This was in the Deep South. There's no such thing as winter air. The critical issue is, how old is the air? Old air is prone to shrinkage. It's a common problem.

When I worked at a gas station as a kid, I used to charge people $5 a tire to change the air in their tires. "Oh, yeah, you've got to do it at least once a year!" I figured if they were dumb enough to pay me, I was enough of a jerk to take it. (I'm more honest now. But not by much.)

Thanks, that's very helpful. So now I know you can drill into the antler. It didn't spread and crack when you put in the lag screws?

That's a great idea! Makes me want to fire up the grill just thinking about.

Great answers, thanks all. Rob, that's cool. How did you attach the antlers to the wood?

Ha. Good ideas. But how do you mount them to wood etc.? I was thinking drill a hole just big enough for the shed before the thicker base, cut the wood in half, then glue it around the base on top of another piece of wood. Cumbersome.